Intriguing Australian image of Spica, Mars and Saturn featured by NASA

Australian space photographer Phil Hart has pulled off a beauty with this star trail photo taken on 12 August. And it's been featured on NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day today.

The photo features from the left, the blue giant star Spica, the red/orange of Mars and the yellow of Saturn. According to APOD, it was recorded as the trio set on August 12 with a telephoto lens from the shores of Lake Eppalock, in central Victoria, Australia. According to Phil Hart's blog, it was a 20 minute exposure, f5.6 ISO100.

You can buy Phil's ebook Shooting Stars on photographing stars with a DSLR camera for just $24.95, less a bit if you use the IceInSpace coupon code SSIIS to receive a 20% discount. I wonder if the kids are listening? I hear Father's Day is coming... (My astrophotography efforts sure need the help!)

Mars has now advanced so that this triangle has inverted, with Mars at the top. Mars will continue to move away from Saturn and the star that Saturn has shadowed for months. Spica is actually the 15th brightest star in our skies, is 260 light years away. It's a variable, meaning it could go supernova. But as Bad Astronomer Phil Plait tells us, it's far enough away that it won't sterilise our planet if it does. Just.